Surprise!
by wikhfic
Summary: Kairi's birthday was coming up, but she seemed down in the dumps over something…and Sora and Riku had the perfect "gift" to cheer her up. [One-shot] [Fluffy Kairi/Olette with a hint of Soriku]


Kairi aimlessly stared at the crystalline bottle in her hands, too distracted by its contents to notice the advancing tide. "Third time's a charm," she convinced herself with a light shrug, a weakened smile etched into her skin. She had worn this smile quite often lately, despite her attempts to keep it genuine; she hated making others worry about her (though unknowingly, that's exactly what they were doing). Following a much-needed deep breath, she cast the bottle beyond the crashing waves, watching it float away in a glimmering dance. Feeling the warmth of the early springtime sun fade from her cheeks, she reluctantly decided it was time to head home.

As she turned, untying a thin jacket from her waist, she spotted two familiar figures in the distance enjoying their own intimate moment on the sand dunes, their backs facing her. Knowing this was one of their _countless_ personal times together, she supposed a little bit of teasing couldn't hurt. Turning her halfhearted smile into a flashing grin, she draped the jacket loosely over her shoulders, propping the hood up over part of her face, and sneaked towards them. Being as petite as she was, she had no problem gliding forward without a sound, but as she approached them, the complex curvatures of their silhouettes becoming clearer, she was beginning to feel things were _too_ quiet. She took shorter steps on tip-toe, leaning upward over the slight hill created by the dunes, getting a better glimpse of the boys who were normally so chatty. Their legs stretched out, upper bodies supporting each other back-to-back, completely motionless, and she realized —

"_They're sleeping!" _she whispered to herself and giggled at the sight. It was incredible, really, how anyone could fall asleep like that, but they found a way. "It must be nice…_"_ she thought aloud, admiring the closeness the both of them were enjoying in the setting sun. She hummed softly to herself as she became lost in her thoughts, daydreaming. But after some time she recognized how odd her gawking had become, even if her eyes had wandered beyond the two sleeping boys. Remembering her original scheme, she proceeded with utmost caution, drawing a deep breath, readying her surprise attack when—

"Don't even think about it."

_Busted_.

Kairi let out a deflated sigh through closed lips, her hood falling in unison. "Aw c'mon, Riku, how did you hear me?" The girl inched closer, crouching on her heels to rest beside him. "Honestly, it's like—"

Riku raised a finger to his lips, motioning his head at Sora, who was still sound asleep next to him. Kairi mouthed an _Oh_ and nodded in compliance. But she wasn't done, not yet. "Okay, but how did you hear me?" she pushed with a smirk, her voice as gentle as ever.

The boy gave a quiet yet confident snicker. "Darkness, blindfold. You kinda get used to honing your senses," he answered in a whisper.

"Aah, yeah, I guess you're right," she replied rubbing the back of her neck feeling guilty for forgetting. She plopped backwards off her heels and held her knees to her chest. "So…" she nodded toward Sora, "…how…?"

Riku tried to hold back the laughter. "You kidding? This guy could sleep through another Organization uprising. Watch." Shifting his back bit by bit and placing his hands near Sora's shoulders, he was able to lower the other boy's head down into his lap without causing a stir. Sora simply accepted this new position as if it were his bed, turning onto his side and using his arms and hands as a makeshift pillow. "See?" Riku turned to Kairi with a contented look, like he had achieved some sort of goal.

The girl cupped her mouth with her hands, muffling an outbreak of giggles, but something caused her to abruptly stop. "Wait a minute," she started to question with a raised voice, "why do we have to whisper, then?"

Responding with a quick _Sh!_ the silver-haired boy looked away briefly, his cheeks turning a slight peach gradient. "I like being able to hear him breathe," he answered in a surprisingly serious tone.

Kairi accepted this in absolute understanding, deciding it was best she remained wordless for the time being, her gaze fixed upon the sparkling waves bathing in the drawing twilight.

Twilight, the undulating waves…she started losing herself to the sounds of shore, pondering the safety of her bottle and its contents, pondering the current status of its recipient. _Olette_. The name rolled off the tongue, really, even when thought to the self. Ever since their encounter in the months prior, they had promised to see each other again, but that day had yet to come. They endured the lack of intimacy by sending letters on a prayer that they would reach their disconnected worlds _somehow_. And for the most part it worked—except for her last two attempts, and this wore her down. Nasty thoughts had crept into her mind that something grave had happened, and as much as she tried to shoo them away, they lingered. It wasn't like Kairi to be sucked into negativity, but nothing seemed to put her heart at ease over the issue. She tried surrounding herself with loved ones, spending night and day with Sora and Riku, but seeing their closeness so easily fulfilled brought her down even more. It seemed that anywhere she looked there were people together in mind, body, and soul—and she wanted a piece of that. She _craved_ a piece of that.

Riku noticed the glazed look in his friend's eyes, which were lost in the horizon. Such a sight managed to wear on his spirits. Everything had been peaceful, calm, _normal_ in the days following the Organization's fall—yet that forlorn look meant the tides were not so tranquil for the girl whose brilliant auburn hair was now dulled in the falling light. "It's her, isn't it?" he piped up, much to Kairi's surprise at the break in silence.

Kairi's pale cheeks reddened, but she smiled anyway. "Yeah," she admitted, curling a strand of hair behind her ear.

"And you just can't stop thinking about her, right?"

Her cheeks warmed even more and she pulled her knees in closer, resting her chin between them shyly. "Yeah…"

"Heh, do I know the feeling," Riku assured her, offering a kind smile, thinking that would be enough to lift the girl's spirits again.

Still gazing seaward, she flatly countered under her breath, "At least you _have_ each other." Realizing how poorly that came across, she looked up and immediately apologized, to which Riku shook his head in protest.

She appreciated how easily her friend understood her feelings, even when she didn't understand them herself. She also greatly appreciated his patience, which she worried was being tested with her recent temperament. But seeing him shake his head in that sympathetic protest gave her the desire to continue. "I just want to be by her side. There's only so many letters to hold me over. And…" her voice cracked, "…what if my letters stop reaching her? If she's not here, if I'm not there, how can I even say we have each other? How can I—"

Before she could utter another trembling word, a warm palm delicately cupped her hand, an even warmer voice breaking through the quietness.

"Hey…" Sora cooed sleepily, his eyes still shut and his head still rested on its side. "You've got a big strong heart. And I'm sure she feels it, too. Think of all the things you've made it through. You two're gonna be fine. Promise." He gently raised his head to give her his trademark smile, lightly squeezing her hand before returning it to his side.

This made Kairi beam ear-to-ear. Sora always had that effect on her, even in the hardest times. She giggled playfully, "Good morning, sleepyhead," ruffling his hair affectionately and holding onto his words. "Well, if you said it, then I _guess_ it must be true," she snickered.

"Mhm," the brunette mumbled. "Oh yeah." He lifted himself suddenly onto the side of his knees, hands flanking his sides for support. "Tomorrow's your birthday!" he brought up. "We've gotta do something _big_." His eyes brightened in excitement.

Kairi laughed nervously, waving her hands in dismissal. "Noo, no way. Honestly. My parents are already holding a party this weekend, with all my dad's hotshot connections and everything. The last thing I want tomorrow is something 'big.'" She stuck her tongue out.

Sora opened his mouth to object when Riku cut him off. "Don't worry, we'll have something for you, and it won't be 'big.' Won't we, Sora?" He nudged the other boy, who was holding a confused look.

"Uhh right, yeah!" he played along with a grin, still unsure what Riku had in mind.

Tilting her head to the side with a shrug, Kairi stood up and stretched. "Alright, I'll hold you to it." An oncoming chill graced her cheeks, and she shivered. "Let's just head back for now, okay?"

With synced nods, the three of them walked off, the sun setting in their footprints.

* * *

The next morning came as gracefully as ever, if grace were a six-foot man knocking on your bedroom door. Kairi awoke bleary-eyed, reluctantly dragging herself to the door. The late-morning sun was pooling into her room, a glow of orange tinged with yellow spotlighting her wooden floor. She normally never slept this late into the morning, but she couldn't find a reason to care, especially not on her birthday.

Halfway through opening the door, she started, "'Morning, Da—" but was interrupted by the sight of her father holding a large goodie basket the size of his torso.

"Happy birthday, Princess!" he exclaimed and held the basket out to her.

Kairi held it in her arms and chuckled to herself at the whole scenario: she, in oversized pink and purple pajamas and he in plain business attire; 'Princess' being an all the more appropriate nickname but he'd never know why; the sheer _size_ of the gift basket; needless to say, she was delighted and immediately perked up from her zombie-like state.

"Thanks, Dad," she said with a peck on his cheek, turning the basket over in awe. "You really didn't have t—" A piece of paper made contact with her hand. "—What's this?" She set the basket down and unfolded it.

"Aah, it's from your favorite boys," he answered teasingly, to which she lightly jabbed his arm. While she read the seemingly rushed handwriting—_(yup, definitely Sora)_—he continued to explain. "They stopped by asking me to give that to you in case I wasn't around. Lucky you I was just on my way back to a town meeting! They said they couldn't be around today, but that they would celebrate your birthday at this weekend's party. They seemed awfully sorry about it, but it sounded urgent." He shrugged it off with a grin. "Who knows with those two."

Kairi's spirited demeanor quickly dropped again at the thought of spending her birthday alone. "Oh, yeah, okay. I'm sure it was really important," she tried telling herself but who was she fooling?

Her father hummed in agreement, giving her a big hug and turning to the hallway, exchanging an _I love you_ before heading out for work.

The girl pouted, dropping the letter to the ground and placing the basket on her bed, unraveling it out of habit more than intrigue. It seemed an ungrateful act, but as everything looked to be against her on a day so special, it was hard to feel thankful. Sifting mechanically through the lavish gifts—_(designer labels here, handbags there, new electronics, endless gift cards, play tickets)_—she felt a hollowness in her heart, and decided to fill it the only way she knew how: visiting her newfound favorite spot on the "play island."

Kairi arrived at the small island steadily but with haste, tying her canoe (her father wanted to get her a motorboat, but she insisted for nostalgia's sake) to one of the beams of the same pier she'd docked at for years. As expected, there were no other canoes there, but she had still hoped. She had been used to that. Retracing her steps from yesterday on fresh sand, she moved her way instinctively around the island, the sound of nearby lapping waves ringing in her ears. Rounding the contours of the islet intuitively, she reached the other secret spot in hopes of seeing a returned bottle—but nothing amidst neither sand nor waves. She allowed herself to yield to the seashore's gritty surface, her legs sprawled out on their sides, her arm a support beam, where she remained for some time lost in a conflicting mix of worry and daydream.

* * *

Sora and Riku had just showed up not too far behind Kairi, a third figure between them, distant just enough to see her without revealing themselves.

"See, I told you she'd be here."

"We came just in time, then."

"She looks so sad."

"Yeah, well, not for long."

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

They moved toward her.

* * *

After some time Kairi's daze was broken by the sight of a washed up bottle. Excitedly she stood and rushed over to it, picking it up with hope, but became instantly deflated again once she saw it was her own bottle, its insides empty. Frowning, she stood there motionless, not wanting to move.

"Hey Kairi, we got something for ya!" a voice yelled close by, but she felt too dejected to look up, even if it was from one of her best friends. That was, until—

"Happy birthday, Kai."

A soft voice floated toward her on the wind, landing in her ears, her eyes widening and her heart racing in anticipation of that familiar voice. She turned to face Olette in full, Kairi's letter in her hands, Sora and Riku at her sides, a hand each on her back as if to say _Go get 'er!_ before taking several steps away. The empty bottle dropped to the ground, a surge of joy coming over her. She ran to the brown-haired girl like there was tomorrow—and really, there might not have been—the distance between them closing in an impassioned embrace, the two of them wasting no time to close the distance between their lips as well. Sora and Riku turned away out of respect, but smirking to each other like they had just aced a test.

Kairi pulled away briefly, staring into luminous emerald eyes. Her own words escaped her and all she could do was laugh as her eyes teared up in joy and disbelief. "This…is real, isn't it?" she choked up. Olette simply answered with a smile, pulling her in closer for another entwining kiss.

Everything around her vanished. Nothing else had mattered in that instance except their reuniting bodies, their dancing tongues and wandering fingers. Waves of elation washed over her as the world faded away, the ground beneath her feet dissipating until the two of them simply floated there in each other's blissful company.

Coming up for air, Olette rested her head in the crook of Kairi's neck, whispering in her ear, "It's real." Shivers of delight ran through Kairi's body as she melted in the other girl's arms, not wanting to move again, though this time to savor the feeling rather than numb it.

As happy as they were, Sora and Riku were beginning to feel intrusive, and they gestured to each other to leave. Kairi noticed this over Olette's rounded shoulders as the world came back in focus, and her cheeks warmed instantly at the realization that they had been going at it for quite some time. She drew back a bit and rubbed the back of her neck shyly, like a young girl getting her first kiss. "Hey, you're not leaving, are you?" she called out.

Sora and Riku turned in what looked like surprise. Sora caught himself and flashed that trademark face. "Well, we figured you two could use some alone time."

And just like that, Kairi jabbed back, "Ooh, that'll be for later." But it wasn't really a joke, Sora just had that playful one-upping effect on her. This caused Olette to twist her hair behind an ear and dip her head in embarrassment, failing to hide her flushed cheeks. Kairi could feel the warmth in her cheeks and ears as well, though she held it somewhat…_proudly_. "Anyway," she continued, "I'm not letting you two leave on _my birthday_. Let's make it a double-date! That is…" she turned to Olette with puppy-dog eyes, "…if that's alright with you?"

Olette tried to voice a resounding _Yes_ but her nerves were still fumbling over the previous comments, so instead she hummed—(purred, more like)—an _Mmhm _and nodded emphatically. Kairi squeezed her tight, linked arms, and started walking toward the canoes. "Great, there's so much I wanna show you!"

Sora bounced his way over to Kairi, linking arms with her free arm, his other arm already latching onto Riku. He put his head on her shoulder like a contented puppy and crooned, "Told ya we'd do something big."

She nudged him gently with her elbow, the both of them giggling like children as the couples walked together along the sand—never a better moment than this.

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End file.
